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Co-op stories and career advice from Northeastern students and alumni

The Works is your one-stop hub for information, anecdotes, and tips on co-op and career development from those who have lived it themselves: Fellow students and alumni.

From global opportunities and startups to innovation in the classroom and professional growth, experiential learning at Northeastern takes you places. Let us show you where.

Have a story to share? Contact Kelly.

Who is The Works? As your blog curator, I search for and collect content that shares Northeastern’s unique story, and demonstrates the value of experiential learning.

As a Northeastern University alumna and career counselor, I have my own co-op stories, career advice, and experiences to share, too. The Works combines my passions for experiential learning, education, and digital media.

Whether you’re a current student, an alum, or faculty or staff member, we want to learn more about your stories and insights and look forward to sharing them. To contribute to The Works, send an email with your post idea to k.scott@neu.edu, and I’ll send you more details. Also, don’t forget to comment! A blog is better when its readers are also part of its voice.

3 LinkedIn Tips for Job Hunters

This article was written by Lindsey Sampson, a 3rd year inter­na­tional affairs stu­dent at NU as a reg­ular stu­dent con­trib­utor for The Works.

Everyone knows LinkedIn is a great tool. LinkedIn makes it easier for poten­tial employers to find you, boosts your online pres­ence, and allows you to take full advan­tage of the strength of your pro­fes­sional net­work. Here are a few tricks and tips to max­i­mize LinkedIn for your job search.

LinkedIn Stalking: It’s a thing. Actu­ally, it’s a great thing. Looking at other pro­fes­sionals’ pro­files on LinkedIn is an excel­lent resource for stu­dents and job searchers. Start by finding your career crush. Dig­ital mar­keting man­ager at your dream firm? Good for you. Check out her expe­ri­ence sec­tion: Where did she start? What skills does she have? Where did she intern during her under­grad years? Looking at other peo­ples’ time­lines can give you an idea of what entry-​​level jobs look like in your industry, which can help you visu­alize your own career goals.

Free­lancers: Okay, this is also kind of about LinkedIn stalking. No big deal. If you are inter­ested in becoming a free­lancer, check out the expe­ri­ence sec­tion of other free­lancers’ pro­files. Chances are good that there will be a list of pub­li­ca­tions for which this person has written. This will give you some good ideas of who to con­tact within your industry space for writing opportunities.

Com­pa­nies: Looking at com­pa­nies on LinkedIn is an espe­cially great tool for stu­dents and recent grad­u­ates. While you are still in school, make a list of com­pa­nies that interest you. Your list may only include five or six for now, but this list should be dynamic. Add to it as you go. Having a list of poten­tial future employers will help you avoid sit­ting in front of a blank Google page a month before you grad­uate, trying to figure out what to do with your life. If you start early and add to the list when­ever you stumble upon an inter­esting com­pany, you could rack up 50–100 com­pa­nies to con­tact before you graduate.

Here’s where LinkedIn comes in.

Com­pany pages on LinkedIn pro­vide rec­om­men­da­tions for sim­ilar com­pa­nies in the area. Looking for an edu­ca­tion tech­nology startup in Seattle? Find one, check it out on LinkedIn, and aha! Now you have dis­cov­ered five more. Good for you. Searching through LinkedIn com­pany rec­om­men­da­tions can greatly expand your list of dream companies.

LinkedIn is a pow­erful tool for the modern pro­fes­sional. Take advan­tage of all of its fea­tures and make your life – and your job search – a whole lot less painful.

Lindsey Sampson is a mid­dler Inter­na­tional Affairs major with minors in Social Entre­pre­neur­ship and Writing. She enjoys writing about Mil­len­nials in the work­place and social media as a mar­keting tool. Follow her blog here and tweet her @lindseygsampson.

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